Here we go again: Governor, mayor say they're ready this time as Atlanta Ice Down II approaches

A lot of you were interested in Herman's insight about what went wrong in Atlanta two weeks ago, when day's worth of snow and ice turned into a nightmare that stranded people for many hours, and in many cases overnight. Public officials said they had learned from the experience and would be better prepared if there was a next time. I don't suppose they thought the next time would come this soon, but here we are, as another round of snow and sleet threaten to once again turn the roads into ice rinks starting tonight.

CNN (which is based in Atlanta, as is our organization) reports:

The city of Atlanta and Georgia say they're being proactive this time, unlike two weeks ago when the storm snuck up on Gov. Nathan Deal and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, resulting in citizen inconvenience and outrage. The governor apologized to the public and promised to handle things differently next time. "I'm the governor, the buck stops with me," he said.

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On Sunday the Georgia Department of Transportation said it would start treating roads with sand and salt after the Monday evening rush hour. Supplies from southern Georgia are being brought to the Atlanta metro area, said transportation department spokeswoman Natalie Dale. Deal also gave the National Guard a warning order, an advance notice to personnel of the possibility of a "call up" for a state mission. Schools also began announcing their plans to cancel evening activities beginning Monday. Atlanta City Hall spokesman Carlos Campos said priority roads and bridges will be treated Monday night with a combination of sand and salt, and more supplies are being ordered. The city will open a joint operations center and coordinate with the state government. The city urged people to take precautions such as filling cars with gas and stocking up on food.

As many of you know, Herman and his office staff - as well as folks who work on the radio show like Shaney B and Ashley - live in Atlanta. But Rob and I live in Michigan, where the winters are typically brutal, especially this year. So we're pretty familiar with this stuff, and if the folks in Atlanta are doing everything this story describes, they should be just fine. What apparently happened last time was to some degree a consequence of living in a warmer climate. The earth retains heat, and it will retain more heat in warmer climates. And some surfaces retain more heat than others, particularly concrete, which is why urban areas are usually several degrees warmer than surrounding suburban and rural areas in the summer. When the snow fell in Atlanta two weeks ago, the temperature was not that far below freezing, so the flakes of snow quickly melted into water when they hit the heat-retaining concrete. But since the water stayed above the surface, and air temperatures were still below freezing, the water quickly froze. If the air temperature had been lower and the overall climate colder, the snow would have simply accumulated without ever melting in the first place. It's much easier to drive through slushy/crunchy snow than it is to drive over ice. But if they're treating and salting the road surfaces as described here, it should mostly solve the problem, which of course was exacerbated last time by the panic that ensued when everyone decided to flee downtown Atlanta at the same time, causing a bottleneck on the roads. Mayor Reed said he should have called for a staggered exodus, although I'm honestly not sure how a city would enforce such a directive. I guess maybe they've got a plan if it happens this time. My family and I will be driving through Atlanta on Friday night on the way to spring training in Lakeland, and temperatures are supposed to be back into the 50s by that time. Hopefully we won't be looking at another round of abandoned cars and wrecks - or worse. You're ready this time, Atlanta! You can do it!